Saturday 21 December 1667

At the office all the morning, and at noon home to dinner with my Clerks and Creed, who among other things all alone, after dinner, talking of the times, he tells me that the Nonconformists are mighty high, and their meetings frequented and connived at; and they do expect to have their day now soon; for my Lord of Buckingham is a declared friend to them, and even to the Quakers, who had very good words the other day from the King himself: and, what is more, the Archbishop of Canterbury is called no more to the Cabal, nor, by the way, Sir W. Coventry; which I am sorry for, the Cabal at present being, as he says, the King, and Duke of Buckingham, and Lord Keeper, the Duke of Albemarle, and Privy Seale. The Bishops, differing from the King in the late business in the House of Lords, having caused this and what is like to follow, for every body is encouraged nowadays to speak, and even to preach, as I have heard one of them, as bad things against them as ever in the year 1640; which is a strange change. He gone, I to the office, where busy till late at night, and then home to sit with my wife, who is a little better, and her cheek asswaged. I read to her out of “The History of Algiers,” which is mighty pretty reading, and did discourse alone about my sister Pall’s match, which is now on foot with one Jackson, another nephew of Mr. Phillips’s, to whom he hath left his estate.

L&M note "William Carr, clerk to Gerard's troop of Life Guards, had petitioned Commons accusing Gerard of embezzling £2000 p.a. over the past six years, at the expense of his troupers' wages. He also complained Gerard's agents had entered Carr's house in his absence, seized and destroyed some of his papers, terrified his wife and children. [ http://india.british-history.ac.uk/image-pageSc... ]The House refused to commit the petition on the 17th because it had been printed before being presented. [ http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?co... ] (Carr, now cast into the King's Bench prison, pleaded it had been done in error and without his authority.) On the 18th the Lords sentenced Carr to the pillory and a fine of £1000 and to imprisonment at the King's pleasure on the ground that his petition had been offensive to both King and Lords in referring to the Commons as the only protection of the subject's right...." [ http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?co... ]

Paulina has found her guy at last, no thanks to dear brother Sam. I wonder what "discourse alone" means? Did he rant on to Bess as she lay suffering about headstrong Pall? Though actually he reads almost relieved she may be settled.

Mister Max: click through to the page on 'fanatics' which 'by 1660 . . acquired new force to characterize (and denigrate) passionate nonconformists, both religious and political, especially the radical Puritan sects.'

‘nonconformist, n. and adj. 1. a. Usu. with capital initial. Originally (in the early 17th cent.): a person adhering to the doctrine but not the usages of the Church of England (now hist.). Later (esp. after the Act of Uniformity of 1662 and the consequent ejection from their livings of those ministers who refused to conform): a member of a Church which is separated from the Church of England . . ‘ [OED]

A fanatic is just one that overly enthusiastic in disagreeing with a self righteous authoritarian leaders. Thus the likes of 2000 preachers are roaming the streets of London critiquing the Religious leader of his evil ways,Like Thomas Vincent and John Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress was considered the most widely read and ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bunyan -

'A fanatic is just one that is overly enthusiastic in disagreeing with self righteous authoritarian leaders' Just so, but with the important corollary that it is the 'self righteous authoritarian leaders' who usually decide what is 'overly enthusiastic'.

Subject to this corollary, many Quakers today would still be happy to be considered 'fanatics' and the term certainly fits the movement in its early days.

"Creed, who among other things all alone, after dinner, talking of the times, he tells me that the Nonconformists are mighty high, and their meetings frequented and connived at; and they do expect to have their day now; ; for my Lord of Buckingham is a declared friend to them, and even to the Quakers, who had very good words the other day from the King himself: "

They had considerable freedom from the fall of Clarendon this autumn until the Second Conventicle Act of 1670, note L&M, who provide us no comment on the rest of Pepys's run-on sentence except to remind us that Creed had been a Puritan himself.

They do note the Quakers had been the special butt of the authorities, mainly because they had been the only nonconformists to resist en-masse the anti-conventicling legislation. The King, convinced of their peaceableness, had had their leader, Geore Fox released from prison im August 1666: Fox's Journal.

"the Archbishop of Canterbury is called no more to the Cabal,...the Cabal at present being, as he says, the King, and Duke of Buckingham, and Lord Keeper, the Duke of Albemarle, and Privy Seale."

L&M note Archbishop Sheldon had, for some months past outspokenly upbraided the King for his loose living. The final break had come over Clarendon's dismissal: http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1667/12/27/ (as detailed in the footnote to that entry). The Lord Keeper, Sir Orlando Bridgman, and the Lord Privy Seal, Sir John Robartes (2nd Baron Robartes) had Presbyterian sympathies.